This section begins with a discussion of the views of Marx and Lenin on the fate of the peasantry under capitalism. We will then consider Chayanov's challenge to Lenin's arguments. The arguments will be examined in their original historical contexts and in terms of the way they were developed by later theorists to discuss more recent developments in the countries of the South. We will then consider the relevance of these classical ideas today, examining the way the global food economy has actually developed over the twentieth century and the relationships between rural change and industrialization.

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